The fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the fund’s investment results. During the most recent fiscal year, the fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 32% of the average value of its portfolio.

The fund invests primarily in common stocks of issuers around the world that the investment adviser believes have the potential for growth, many of which have the potential to pay dividends. Under normal market conditions, the fund will invest at least 80% of its assets in common stocks and other equity-type securities. For purposes of this policy, equity-type securities are securities that exhibit ownership characteristics, including common and preferred stock, securities convertible into common and preferred stock and depository receipts representing ownership in common and preferred stock. The fund will allocate its assets among various countries, including the United States (but in no fewer than three countries). Under normal market conditions, the fund will invest a percentage of its net assets outside the United States. That percentage will represent at least (a) 40% of the fund’s net assets, unless market conditions are not deemed favorable by the fund’s investment adviser, in which case 30%, or (b) the percentage of the MSCI World Index represented by companies outside the United States minus 5%, whichever is lower. The fund may invest up to 10% of its assets in emerging markets. In determining the domicile of an issuer, the fund’s investment adviser will generally look to the determination of MSCI Inc. (MSCI) for equity securities.

In pursuing the fund’s objective, the fund’s investment adviser focuses primarily on companies with attributes that are associated with long-term growth and resilience to market declines, such as strong management, participation in a growing market, strong balance sheets, payment of dividends and the potential for above average growth in earnings, revenues, book value, cash flow and/or return on assets.

The fund is nondiversified, which means it may invest a greater portion of its assets in fewer issuers than would otherwise be the case.

The investment adviser uses a system of multiple portfolio managers in managing assets. Under this approach, a portfolio is divided into segments managed by individual managers. For more information regarding the investment process of the fund, see the “Management and organization” section of this prospectus.

The fund relies on the professional judgment of its investment adviser to make decisions about the fund’s portfolio investments. The basic investment philosophy of the investment adviser is to seek to invest in attractively valued companies that, in its opinion, represent good, long-term investment opportunities. Securities may be sold when the investment adviser believes that they no longer represent relatively attractive investment opportunities.

The following bar chart shows the fund’s investment results for its first full calendar year of operations, and the following table shows how the fund’s average annual total returns for various periods compare with a broad measure of securities market results and, if applicable, other measures of market results that reflect the fund’s investment universe. This information provides some indication of the risks of investing in the fund. Past investment results (before and after taxes) are not predictive of future investment results. Updated information on the fund’s investment results can be obtained by visiting capitalgroup.com/etf.